The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Court — Economic Offences-II, Egmore, to complete trial proceedings against AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran within three months, on a day-to-day basis, in a case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 1996 for funnelling funds abroad through unauthorised channels.
Clubbing it with another offence, the ED initiated two cases against Mr. Dhinakaran. These cases are pending on the file of the ACMM — Economic Offences-II. Nearly two decades on, the cases were taken up for trial last April, and the court framed charges against Mr. Dhinakaran on April 19 in one of the cases, besides commencing the trial. On July 7, the Madras High Court stayed the trial proceedings on a petition filed by Mr. Dhinakaran alleging that the trial court had failed to provide adequate opportunity for his counsel to make his submissions before framing the charges against him.
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‘Petitioner denied time’
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Disposing of the petition seeking to quash the order on framing of charges on Monday, Justice M.S. Ramesh pointed out that the framing of charges was an important event in the trial of warrant cases. It can be seen that in the present case, the petitioner had sought only a day’s time for advancing his arguments with regard to framing of charges, but the same was denied, the judge noted.
Permitting Mr. Dhinakaran’s counsel to put forth his arguments afresh on the charges framed, the judge said the exercise should be completed within one working day before July 31. “The ACMM — Economic Offences-II should endeavour to complete the proceedings within the time limit prescribed herein — three months,” the judge said.